The Senate on Thursday passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021. The passing of the bill followed clause by- clause consideration and adoption of recommendations of report of the Joint Committee on INEC at plenary on Thursday. It amended clause 52(3) of the bill to empower the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to determine suitability of network for electronic voting procedures with approval of National Assembly. Clause 52(3) of the bill had prescribed that INEC may adopt electronic voting and electronic processes where practicable. The clause, which had provided for INEC to determine electronic voting process where practicable was however, amended…
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The Senate on Thursday approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for ongoing external loans to the tune of $8,325,526,537 and €490,000,000 under the 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan. The approval followed the consideration of a report on the 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debt. The Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Clifford Ordia, in his presentation, said the committee noted with utmost importance, the genuine and very serious concerns of Nigerians about the level and sustainability/ serviceability of the country’s borrowings in the last decade. According to the lawmaker: “Our (Nigeria’s) debt service figures constitute…
AWIEF Awards cover emerging and established entrepreneurship in the private and not-for-profit sectors The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum, AWIEF, has opened its nominations for the 2021 annual AWIEF Awards. The current prestigious AWIEF Awards, the fifth in its series, recognise, honour, and celebrate women entrepreneurs and business owners in Africa and across various industry sectors for their achievements and contribution to Africa’s inclusive economic growth and social development. AWIEF Awards cover emerging and established entrepreneurship in the private and not-for-profit sectors. AWIEF Awards nominees are women who have demonstrated outstanding vision and inspiration and have overcome challenges to…
Researchers from China, Germany and Britain have developed transparent power-generating windows to convert sunlight into electricity, according to a research article published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. Transparent photovoltaics had shown great potential, but increased transparency came at the expense of reduced power-conversion efficiency. The researchers developed the window by overcoming this limitation by combining solar-thermal-electric conversion with the wavelength-selective absorption of the material used. The wavelength-selective film facilitates up to 88 per cent of visible-light transmittance and outstanding ultraviolet and infrared absorbance, thereby converting absorbed light into heat without sacrificing transparency, according to the researchers. A prototype that…
The federal government on Thursday in Abuja inaugurated the reconstituted Russian-Nigerian Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on National Atomic Energy. Preforming the inauguration, Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said the reconstitution of JCC was to resuscitate the relationship between the two countries in cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Mustapha, however, recalled that within the framework of Nigeria’s bilateral relation with the Russian Federation, a number of Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) were signed between the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) and Russia’s State-owned Nuclear Corporation (ROSATOM). He said that the move was for cooperation in the design,…
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved more vaccines for the treatment of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Director General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday. She said approval had been given to Moderna, a vaccine from the Rovi Pharma Madrid, Spain. Other vaccines also approved are: AstraZeneca AZD1222 produced by SK Bioscience Company Limited from Korea and Sputnik V, produced by Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia. Adeyeye said that the NAFDAC Vaccine Committee had been carefully assessing the vaccines and…
President Muhammadu Buhari said that his administration would continue to accord priority to railway infrastructure development due to its economic importance. Buhari made the remarks on Thursday in Zawachiki, Kano State at the ground breaking ceremony of Kaduna-Kano rail line. “I am delighted to preside over the ground breaking ceremony to mark the commencement of construction activities on the Kano-Kaduna segment of the modernisation project at the proposed site of the Kano railway station, which is adjacent to the Dala Inland Dry Port,” he said. He said that commencement of the construction activities of the Kaduna-Kano rail line project represented…
South Korea’s daily Coronavirus cases have continued to rise short of a record high on Thursday, forcing the country to impose stronger restrictions in regions surrounding the capital Seoul. South Korea, through the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said this was in its bid to slow down nationwide spread of the virus. KDCA added that 1,600 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,555 local infections, had raised the total caseload to 173,511. The latest figure is the second-highest daily tally after a record of 1,615 cases was reported a day earlier as the country battles the spread of the more…
Standard Chartered bank is providing $200 million of not-for-profit funding towards African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) structured framework to help finance the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines for African nations. Afreximbank announced this in a statement on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt. According to the statement, the collaboration between Standard Chartered and Afreximbank will ensure that 55 countries across Africa have access to COVID-19 vaccines. “This facility will play a part in ensuring that Africa can achieve its COVID-19 strategy, which targets vaccinating a minimum of 60 per cent of Africa’s population. “The facility is part of the Advance Procurement Commitment (APC) framework…
The MiG-31 fighter jet flew over the Pacific Ocean to escort the U.S. Navy R-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft on Thursday, the Russian National Defense Control Centre said. According to the Defense Ministry, Russian airspace controlled devices detected an air target approaching the Russian airspace over the Pacific Ocean. “To identify an aerial target and prevent illegal entrance to Russian airspace, a MiG-31 fighter from the air defence forces of the Eastern Military District took off,’’ the centre said. The crew of the Russian fighter identified the target as a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft and escorted it over the…